Curtains are drawn on a 15-year old case and a 7-day public catastrophic spectacle played out on streets of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh and on television channels across the country with 20 years imprisonment of Prisoner No. 1997 -Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a rape and sexual assault case.

Sealing the fate of the pseudo-saint and his vast Dera empire, the CBI special judge Jagdeep Singh, who convicted Gurmeet Ram Rahim in a rape and sexual assault case on August 25, today at a Special Court set up in the Sonaria jail in Rohtak sentenced him to 20 years rigorous imprisonment after detailed arguments on the quantum of sentence.  He has been given the right to appeal to a higher court.  The appeal by the defense counsel to change the prison has also not been accepted.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in each of the two cases of rape with Rs. 15 lakhs as fine in each of the cases. A compensation of Rs. 14 lakhs each has been ordered for each of the victims.

It has been reported courtesy lawyers and jail staff that unable to bear the burden of hearing the sentence of 20 years, the pseudo-saint broke down and had to be bodily lifted to be taken into the prison cell.

As per orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Special court judge and his assistants were flown him in a state government chopper from Chandigarh to Rohtak and they landed on a specially built helipad next to the temporary jail premises.

On August 25, the Special Court at Panchkula convicted the 50 year old Gurmeet Ram Rahim under Sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

“For a very long time to come, Gurmeet Ram Rahim will stay behind the four walls of the prison, even if he continuously complains of back pain. More than 8 more cases are pending against him including the murder of Poora Sach editor Ram Chandra Chattrapati, Khatta Singh and Ranjit Singh.”

The CBI Special Prosecutor Harinder Pal Singh Verma pressed for maximum judgement whereas the lawyer for the guilty pseudo-saint S. K. Garg Narwana pleaded for leniency on health grounds and the philanthropic work done by Gurmeet Ram Rahim.  According to media reports, the victims have asked for maximum sentence.  The pseudo-saint, calling himself “Messenger of God” has sought forgiveness.

Yesterday, one of the spokesperson of the Dera Sauda, Dilawar Insaan, said, “It is an unjust verdict. We will appeal against it.” Putting up a bold front, he further said, “all good religious leaders have had to face such circumstances. We appeal to people to maintain peace.” Significantly, the other two spokespersons of the Dera Sauda, the ubiquitous Dr. Aditya Insaan and Dhiman Insaan have been booked under sedition charges for instigating the Dera followers after the pronunciation of the judgement on August 25. Both are absconding till last reports.

After receiving adverse publicity, though the Haryana government has neither been dismissed nor has the Chief Minister resigned, the heavy security arrangements all over Rohtak and Haryana have ensured that the agitated Dera supporters either remained ensconced in their homes or deras and no retaliatory violence was reported from anywhere else. A few minutes before the judgement, a lady spokesperson of the dera appealed for calm and peace.

For a very long time to come, Gurmeet Ram Rahim will stay behind the four walls of the prison, even if he continuously complains of back pain. According to information available, there are more than 8 more cases pending against him including the murder of Poora Sach editor Ram Chandra Chattrapati, Khatta Singh and Ranjit Singh. Anshul Chattrapati -the son of Ram Chandra Chattarpati has appealed to all victims to boldly come out and tell the truth the courts and the world.

“The beginning of the end of the Sauda Sirsa Dera has begun. There is no way that this dera can resurrect itself and exert the kind of religious, political or spiritual influence which it used to have only a week back.”

The dera pseudo-saint in prison, the spokespersons absconding and implicated for sedition and rioting, the complicit political leadership shell-shocked after playing footsie all these years is now deleting tweets, disowning association with the Dera despite photographic and video evidence, all properties of the dera and Naam Charcha Ghars of the dera in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have been sealed or are under scrutiny and the poor Dera followers benumbed to stay home, contemplating what went wrong, taken for a ride in many cases, may be seen indulging in small talk about who could be the next messiah.  Sadly and unfortunately, the Sikh religious and political leadership of all hues and shades is ashamedly absent.

 If you like our stories, do follow WSN on Facebook.

The beginning of the end of the Sauda Sirsa Dera has begun. There is no way that this dera can ever resurrect itself and exert the kind of religious, political or spiritual influence which it used to have only a week back.